There were chaotic scenes at the full-time whistle after Manchester City got the better of Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday evening. Daniel Farke was sent off by referee Peter Bankes after the Premier League match as the German charged over to the referee angrily wagging his finger in the official’s direction. Pep Guardiola approached Farke to cool him down and the Catalan coach also played peacemaker during angry exchanges between both sets of players, with Jayden Bogle clashing with Bernardo Silva before being restrained.

Farke shook hands with Guardiola in the dugout, then made his way towards the centre circle to speak to Bankes. But the referee was reaching for his pocket to produce the red card even before the 49-year-old Leeds manager got near him. Farke made his frustrations towards Bankes clear after being dismissed as the home side’s goalkeeper, Karl Darlow, tried to put distance between the two. Guardiola then made his way over onto the pitch to have a word with his counterpart.

It was not clear what exactly angered Farke but Leeds were denied a penalty in the 86th minute after an alleged handball from Matheus Nunes. Rob Hawthorne said on Sky Sports’ commentary: “He made the long run over to Peter Bankes. A couple of wags of the finger and presumably whatever was coming out of his mouth, even before he got as far as the referee, convinced him enough to produce that red card.” While Alan Smith added: “There was nothing particularly controversial with what the referee gave.”

Farke is now unable to speak to the broadcaster after the match due to his dismissal. Premier League rules state that any player, coach or manager who is shown a red card cannot conduct post-match interviews with the media. Edmund Riemer, Farke’s assistant, held Leeds’ press conference instead.

He said to Sky: “I just had a short chat with him. I think he felt there were incidents, there was time-wasting. Like you could’ve given a corner for counting down too long. That was several times. They had the yellow card in added time. Six minutes on, I think it’s five seconds to go, then you don’t allow us to [put the ball in the box]. Be sensible, come on, let us put the last ball in.

Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings.

“Then of course you’re emotional. I think that’s what the game is all about. He runs on the pitch and says ‘For what?’ I think his question was ‘For what?’ This is why he gets the sending off. Maybe he was too aggressive or a harsh manner, I don’t know.

“Emotions are a big part in this game. I’ve worked with him for a decade now, he rarely gets sent off. The first one was when he got sent off for overcelebrating when we got promoted. This is only the second one of his career. Normally he’s never aggressive or overreacting. I think it’s very harsh.”

The Premier League Match Centre said on X: “Daniel Farke was shown a red card for entering the pitch and confronting the referee after the final whistle.”

Leeds tested their visitors in an encouraging performance but despite fashioning several good goalscoring opportunities, were unable to find a way past Gianluigi Donnarumma. The defeat leaves the Whites six points clear of 18th-placed West Ham in the Premier League relegation zone.

City won 1-0 thanks to January signing Antoine Semenyo’s first-half goal. The three points mean City close the gap to leaders Arsenal to two points, before the Gunners host Champions League-chasing Chelsea at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

Goalscorer Semenyo said post-match: “It means everything [to close the gap]. We just want to win all our games on our side and whatever Arsenal do we’ll have to wait and see. We have to control what we can control.”

While Guardiola reacted: “Top apart from the first 10 to 15 minutes here. But it’s like that every game here at Leeds. They are so aggressive in duels, but after we made a lot of thousand, million passes. It still works in football. We controlled the transitions and everything. It was a huge victory to still be there.”

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page